My Cup of Tea - Ilias

[Satkia Beltrak]

Life on Ossus had been different than her years traveling in space and to different planets, never really calling any of them home. Ironically, her birth planet, Nar Shaddaa, as much of a dangerous and exotic mess as it was, remained the closest thing she had to home. Yet, she couldn't deny that she was enjoying being able to live in a community again. Finding her place at the Enclave was an interesting experience. She had been happy when her offer to help maintain and repair some ships there had been accepted. She was a mechanics and a pilot at heart, since she was a little girl. So, it was great to be able to work on ships others than her own.

The day before, the replacement of a ship part didn't go as expected, regardless of how many times the redhead had taken care of such things. It had caught fire. While it had been easy to stop it, the smoke had hurt her throat and she had had a bad cough since then. She had remembered a brief conversation with a fellow Jedi, shortly after he had greeted her upon her arrival to the enclave. She had remembered that and decided to see whether she could find him.

Satkia (http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/5/p/5pnyq8h2wjig5gnw.jpg?djet1p5k) headed to the large gardens and began looking around, for she wasn't so familiar with his aura yet, hoping to find him there. She hoped he could help with her predicament.

[Ilias Nytrau]

Life on Ossus was different. Though he had visited upon many, many worlds in his lifelong career as a Jedi, home had been the spires of Coruscant for most of it. Even after the not entirely successful eradication of his Jedi brothers and sisters, he had remained under the very convincing guise of a different face, a different name, a different career that was not so far-flung from the greatest of his skills. Favours owed, credentials forged and skills proven in the ensuing years, a life he would have been alright with continuing for many more years had he not received word that there were Jedi gathering. A journey loping through space, fraught with the ever-present danger of discovery and a second culling eventually lead to here.

To the dust, to a place to rebuild and grow. The building and growing of Jedi; the growing of plants. While the majority of plant growth done in the settlement was for sustenance, the healer had taken it upon himself to grow and tend that which had applications in healing. Oh, the Force could do much; its power to restore was beyond compare, to be certain, but there was no knocking the power of nature, or the comfort of traditions. That aside, the small number of healers could do only so much, and coming to them with every little thing would drive them beyond exhaustion. There was also the odd individual that didn't quite trust the mystical Force. Many reasons to be knowledgeable in other methods of caring for a patient.

There was a little bit of space for his own pursuits, of course. Alongside the medicinal herbs he tended, there was a modest plot of tea plants, the mark of a habit that had grown beyond mere enjoyment of a cuppa - yet his intentions were not entirely inwardly pointing. He did like to share, and held firm to the belief that a cup of tea also had its own benefits to the body. That someone else had entered the area was something he barely paid any mind to, tying one plant to a support; others came through the rows all the time, wandering through, or checking on a specific plot. He knew the most frequent visitors by the specific sound of their footfalls, the rhythm of their breathing, and other details beyond the clear identifier of their presence in the all-encompassing energies of the Force. Even a non-sensitive had their own signature... but the body that now walked the rows wasn't a regular. Wasn't even in the number of settlement citizens he interacted with even in brief from day to day. The feel of this one scratched at his subconscious, making his brow knit lightly as he tied the topmost knot and examined his work before standing and wiping off his hands on a pocketed working apron he wore when doing more than just checking in with the plants; blue eyes looked out over the tops of tall stalks of various plantings, his height offering him a vantage point that most didn't have, and the scan gave him sight of a gingered noggin moving along at a pace that suggested they... no, she was looking for something.

There was only one person it could be, and it wasn't Master Laran - he was long since familiar with her presence in the Force. No, there were only so many redheads in the Enclave, and this one had to be the most recent one to arrive. The question was... what was she looking for? He untied the apron and pulled it over his head as he walked, fully intent on intercepting her in pursuit of an answer to that query.

[Satkia Beltrak]

Satkia had a great fondness for plans and wild life, despite having no talent for gardening or anything of the like. She couldn't deny being an urban child who was more at ease with machines of all kinds, and a speed junkie when it came to flying a ship. She felt like an acklay in the middle of little flowers as she walked through the area. She felt another strong presence in the Force nearby and looked in its direction. She smiled as she saw Ilias Nytrau making his way towards her. She was relieved to find him here, and she hoped he wouldn't mind her request.

"Greetings...." She started before coughing. She turned away and waited until it was done. Facing her fellow ginger-haired Jedi again, she offered a sheepish smile and switched to telepathy because she didn't want to cough her lungs out when trying to explain the situation.

"I apologize for my lack of speaking abilities. I had to put up with bad smoke yesterday and have been with a parched throat and this cough since yesterday. I remembered you mentioning not only medicinal herbs but also tea plants in your gardening. I was hoping you might be able to help me."

[Ilias Nytrau]

The apron tidily folded, he dipped his chin, about to voice his own greetings when hers crumbled into a fit of coughing; he followed her with a gaze of faint concern that he still managed to wear despite many decades as a healer, having seen much and too much that should have made any man colder or hampered with a significant affliction of the psyche. If he was surprised when her words began to come through in his mind, it didn't show much beyond a blink. Already his gaze had become one of examination, seeking the cause of her distress as she explained just that and framed her request.

"Mm," he began, "so I see," giving her a mild smile, though his brow creased further, "it's good you've come. Smoke inhalation left untreated could get worse. Much worse."

Were it a lesser injury he would be ready with greater admonishments and considerable insistence for prevention, but this was much more serious than she was aware, from what he could tell, so such a discussion could wait. A glance back towards his working area and the hut a ways beyond that had the still-young healer making a decision as to what to do, and he looked to her again, gesturing to follow as he stepped off towards where he'd been before.

"Intervention with the Force can heal completely, but the way it works is in accelerating the natural healing process of the body. This can bring on effects normal to that process, compounded, and side-effects of accelerating the movement of cells - heat, an increase in body temperature, is one of them. The Force may be mystical in its intents and movements, but there is no mystery to how its applications translate into the physical plane," light crinkling showed at his eyes, amusement at that fact, "I will treat you first with that which the Force has deemed fit to burden me with," lips joined in on what was going on with the crinkles, "then we'll see about what I can give you to treat and soothe any lingering symptoms."

He glanced sidelong at Satkia as they walked.

"Fair? Also, do you have any liking for tea?"

[Satkia Beltrak]

Satkia couldn't help finding it ironic that after years traveling across the galaxy, including to shady places, she had had issues with a ship part while helping at the Jedi Enclave. At the same time, she could probably blame herself as she had overextended herself, more than glad to be living in a community again. Maybe she should have been more careful when verifying the shape of the part she was going to install. One way or the other, what was done was done and all she could do now was to seek help to soothe her parched throat and nasty cough.

"Thank you for not minding my impromptu visit." She used to have some medicinal herbs aboard her ship, but she hadn't gone to purchase more in a while and had found herself lacking in that domain. She managed to stop coughing for the time being and nodded to what her fellow Jedi explained. "I trust you with whatever can be done. I'm grateful for your help. I can fix about anything mechanical but living beings? That's not in my repertoire."

She easily fell in stride as she walked by his side. While he was way taller than her tiny frame, she was a fast walker by nature so easily kept up. "My everyday preference goes to black teas, but I drink all kinds of them depending on the arising need."

[Ilias Nytrau]

"Then I hope I will be able to expand your preferences."

He never minded a visit from one who had need of the care he could provide; it was in part his purpose in life, his calling to tend to the health of those around him, and this came in many forms, the primary of them being medical care. He practised preventative medicine to the utmost degree possible, and often equipped students with even a single weak mote of talent for the healing arts with the ability to tend to their own wounds. All in all, this left the more severe and complex injuries to the care of healers such as himself, with much power and experience with the craft. Even so, not every Jedi was capable. He dropped the apron on the workbench at the end of the area, and continued further, out to a modest structure where he did the remainder of his work.

"Have you no talent for the healing arts?"

Not at all sounding like depending on others for this was a bother. It was fact that the Force was limitless, but that one's ability to wield it was not. Even he had his own limitations, and had long since been enhancing his strengths, always taking care of that which he could control, and only the necessary attention to that which he could not. The hut was some fifty feet away, still. He glanced sidelong at the petite and lovely woman walking alongside him, taking faint notice of her beauty, but giving it no further mind.

"I ask only out of curiosity."

[Satkia Beltrak]

Satkia smiled to her fellow Master's words regarding expanding her tea preferences. She was a very open minded woman and with her love for tea, she was quite curious about what he might suggest her to try out. She paused though at the next question and shrugged. For her first years of training, she had felt bad for having no skill whatsoever for healing arts, but her late master's support had been helpful about accepting and embracing her strengths and her weaknesses.

"None at all. I have solid survivability but when it comes to do actual healing, whether on myself or someone else, I am a bacta and other medicine kind of Jedi." She replied with a smirk. She had been able to sustain bad injuries in certain difficult times but she had never been able to do anything to fix them.

Adjusting her pace to the tall Jedi, she smiled knowing that she might have sound a little bit cynical though she wasn't and was grateful for the talents she had and having learned of her own weaknesses. "My forte lies elsewhere though my late Master, who had strong healing inclinations, tried her best to train me in that, but somewhere along the line, the Force didn't include that in my gift." Her smile widened a bit. "This is why I'm glad you didn't mind my request of assistance. I normally have medical supplies but I have been busy with finding my place here and haven't properly restocked in the last months."

[Ilias Nytrau]

"Mm," he mused, "we all have our own strengths and weaknesses; the Force is infinite, but our ability to wield it is not. I myself have no ability to influence minds." He turned his face towards her, yet continued to walk; his chances of running into anything were very slim, with the Force as his companion. His control of self - mind and body - was nigh without parallel, his awareness likely without peer. A secretive smile pulled up the corners of his mouth, and he leaned in just a little. "I must rely on charm and charisma alone..."

He grew a smirk of his own.

"...or resort to outright lies."

He straightened out again, letting off a short, full-bodied laugh, "I would be glad to help make certain you are restocked, as far as with what I can provide," he offered, and looked ahead; they were nearly at the hut. He picked up his pace to close the distance to the door, grasping the handle and gently pulling to open the way, while the other arm beckoned her with a flourish, "welcome to my workshop; mind the drying herbs," of which there were several bundles hanging from the ceiling, over the floor, the worktables, and other amenities save for the simple cot tucked against a wall on account of being roused by a bundle of freshly-hung haipsil dropping on his face.

"I often sleep out here... well, what little sleep I do need. I have no want to disturb those of more common sleep cycles with my puttering about at all hours."

[Satkia Beltrak]

The versatility of how the Force operated through the universe was fascinating and Satkia believed that the way every individual, including every Jedi, was different was important. That was why she had eventually accepted that she had no talent for healing, but had evident capacity to sustain injuries, her breaking point pushable to a significant extent. She kept her attention on her fellow Jedi as they walked together, the Force easily guiding her away from the risk of running into anything or stumbling down.

She couldn't help grinning, slightly amused at Nytrau's remark. "Charm and charisma? Hmmm... How often does that work?" She teased, her sense of humor rarely departing her, even if she had an ugly sore throat. Her grin turned slightly more mischievous as they reached the hut.

"Thank you." She nodded to her fellow ginger-haired Jedi as he let her inside. "That sounds like me living aboard my ship more often than not because I tinker on several vehicles at the Enclave until very late hours. Blessed are those who have common sleep cycle when they don't have to put up with strange coming and going, right?"